EghtesdOnline: Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union are planning to sign an interim agreement on creating a free trade zone on May 17 during the Astana Economic Forum in the Kazakh capital.

The announcement was made by Kazakhstan’s Minister of National Economy Timur Suleymenov during a Cabinet meeting on May 2, Armenia’s state news agency Armenpress reported.

“In general, Iranian market has goods worth more than $8 billion, which are of export interest for Kazakhstan,” Suleymenov was quoted as saying by Trend News Agency.

“Thus, by getting more favorable terms, Kazakh producers have the opportunity to increase exports by more than 30 times.”

According to Financial Tribune, Suleymenov noted that on May 17, it is planned to sign an agreement on trade and economic cooperation between the EEU and China at the Astana Economic Forum. EEU member states include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

Suleymenov’s statements came after Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed an interim agreement last week with a validity of four years for the formation of a free trade zone to deal with a limited range of goods between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran, the Russian government’s website announced in a statement.

“The agreement provides for the formation of a free trade area on a limited range of goods between EAEU [another abbreviation for EEU] and Iran. The EAEU will grant Iran tariff concessions on 502 harmonized commodity codes,” the statement was quoted as saying by Russian news agency TASS on Tuesday.